Zamzam 2: "Brotherhood should not sit in the sidelines"

[1/18/2013 12:00:00 AM]

AMMONNEWS - Leaders of the 'National Initiative for Building,' an offshoot of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, held a meeting on Friday to discuss means of developing and progressing the path to reform inside the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

The initiative, dubbed "Zamzam" was launched last November as a means to establish a national movement aimed to reinforce national progress and accord spearheaded by reform-minded community leaders, youth, and civil society organizations.

On Friday, dozens of Muslim Brotherhood leaders attended the second meeting, stressing the need to move forward with the initiative within a timeline to carryout its objectives.

The attendees vowed to continue on their efforts despite threats and warnings they received from the Muslim Brotherhood leadership of punitive measures, including expulsion from the Brotherhood, for launching an independent movement outside the umbrella of the overall Islamist movement.

Rohile Gharaibeh, who is spearheading the initiative, stressed that it is not a secession from the movement, but rather an attempt to reach out to "correct the path of the Brotherhood, put an end to its isolation, and to open up the stalled path towards reform in the country."

"The Muslim brotherhood should not sit on the sidelines gazing at what is happening in our country without coming forth with means to correct the mistakes and present solutions," said Gharaibeh, who is a prominent moderate brotherhood leader who headed the Islamic Action Front's political bureau.

He criticized the directives issued by the hardliner Brotherhood leadership to the general assembly not to interact with the initiative or its objectives. Gharaibeh considered such directives as "intellectual fear tactic and unwarranted attack on the minds of members of the Brotherhood and their Islamic and national belonging."

"Such directives amount to a mandate to confiscate the brotherhood's freedom of thought and creativity," Gharaibeh added.

Organizers of the 'Zamzam' initiative announced that they will hold a general meeting on February 2nd, with the participation of a number of Brotherhood leaders, to set the work-plan and launch the initiative in the political field with the objective of contributing to pushing the reform process forward within the framework of national consensus.

Attendees of Friday's meeting agreed that the Brotherhood is undergoing a "crisis," and stressed the need to open up horizons to exit the state of political stalemate witnessed in the country, attendees told Ammon News.